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Billionaire Michael Bloomberg says he won't run for president in 2020

Christal Hayes, USA TODAY
Published 3:51 p.m. CT March 5, 2019

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Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg slammed a potential independent presidential run by former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, saying it would help re-elect Donald Trump. He also weighed-in on key campaign plans announced by Democrats. (Jan. 29)
AP

WASHINGTON – Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he has decided not to run for president in 2020 and will instead invest in clean energy efforts and other liberal causes.

Bloomberg penned a piece in Bloomberg Opinion, part of the Bloomberg media company he founded, to announce his decision, writing that while he wanted to oust President Donald Trump from the White House, the best use of his time was to invest his fortune in producing "real and beneficial results for the country."

"I know we can do better as a country. And I believe I would defeat Donald Trump in a general election. But I am clear-eyed about the difficulty of winning the Democratic nomination in such a crowded field," he wrote. "I have concluded that, for now, the best way for me to help our country is by rolling up my sleeves and continuing to get work done."

Bloomberg said he was expanding his campaign aiming to halt coal-fired plants over the next 11 years and said he was launching Beyond Carbon, an effort that will focus on shifting the U.S. away from gas and oil and toward green energy. The billionaire also said he would continue his work on other liberal causes, including gun control.

"I know there’s much more we can accomplish over the next two years, but only if we stay focused on the work and expand upon it," he wrote. "And the fact is: A national presidential campaign would limit my ability to do that."

Already more than a dozen Democrats have entered into the race for the White House in 2020.

Last year, Bloomberg reregistered as a Democrat after leaving the party in 2001, intensifying speculation that he might run for president in 2020.

The media mogul became a Republican in 2001 and won the party's primary in the mayoral race that year. He went on to win less than two months after the 9/11 attacks. He was elected again as a Republican in 2005.

He then left the Republican party in 2007 to register as an independent, citing the need to prioritize results over a "rigid adherence to any particular political ideology." As an independent, he won a third term as mayor in 2009.

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Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg rejoined the Democratic Party, after being both a Republican and Independent in recent years. The move comes amid speculation that he may run for the White House in 2020.
Buzz60

Bloomberg's exit from the Republican Party in 2007 fueled speculation that he would make a third-party run for president in 2008. He again flirted with running for the nation's highest office in 2016, but ending up endorsing Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee who went on to lose to President Donald Trump.

The founder of the Bloomberg media company is worth about $48.3 billion, making him the 10th-richest person in America, according to Forbes. Known as a fiscal conservative and social liberal, Bloomberg has donated more than $5 billion to causes including gun control and fighting climate change.